need advice!!!

Yes your post is similar to Charles, but I don't mind telling you my experiences. I too am from the Midwest area, Chicago to be exact. I wasn't sure where to attend school so I reasearched it and it came down to two schools J&W and the CIA. From what I had found CIA was perfect for my needs and I loved the campus and the way the program is designed. As I told Charles I have friends who have graduated from J&W and they received an excellent education. I think it is more of a personal preference. What I would recommend doing is this you might talk with graduates of both schools and see the different opinions.

On the other hand if you want to stay in the area there is a great school that is located in Evanston, IL. Kendall College. Its program is modeled after the CIA and it is excellent. Also I am sure it is not a pricy as CIA.

While you are deciding on schools I can't recommend enough that you should get a job working in a good restaurant where you will be under the guidance of a good chef. This experience will really show you what it takes and if it is really what you want to do with your life. So many people start cooking only to find out later in life what a demanding field it is and what a strain it can put on family and social life.

Carol I totally agree! School is not for everyone and it is expensive to not only pay for school but also not be working. I found it impossible to work a full time job while at CIA because the course required so much time and dedication.
Like I said most of my friends who I consider to be some of the best chefs I know (you included) never went to school. Just the school of hard knocks.

I am of the feeling that school is the route to go. It gives you a chance to study under many different chefs in a short period of time, and to learn many different techinques quickly. On the other hand there is nothing you will learn at school that you cant learn out in the real world. It may just take longer to learn all those things in the real world since the chef has more pressing matters than teaching you all the time. I went to New England Culinary Institute and had a great experience. Class sizes are very small, you do 2 internships anywhere in the country, and from the beginning, everything you produce is for the public so the pressure is on.